LogoutMaster Reid Donkin
This comprehensive oral history interview with Master Reid Donkin covers his remarkable career spanning the key transformative periods of Canadian legal history. Born in Ottawa in 1927, Donkin provides detailed insights into his early legal education at University of Toronto under W.P.M. Kennedy and Bora Laskin, followed by articles at White, Bristol, Gordon, Beck & Phipps and practice in St. Thomas and Hamilton. His career took a pivotal turn in 1967 when he joined the newly-formed Ontario Legal Aid Plan as Deputy Area Director for Toronto, working under Andrew Lawson to establish the foundational structures of modern legal aid including duty counsel systems and certificate programs.
The interview offers unique perspectives on the early challenges of implementing comprehensive legal aid, from establishing duty counsel in juvenile courts to handling high-profile cases during social unrest in the late 1960s. Donkin describes the Kingston Penitentiary riots in 1970-71, where he served on a civilian negotiating committee led by Arthur Martin. His tenure as Area Director from 1970-1980 witnessed legal aid’s expansion into new areas including family law following the 1968 Divorce Act, representation of children, and group applications for community issues.
In 1980, Donkin transitioned to the judiciary as a Master of the Supreme Court of Ontario, providing extensive analysis of court reform including the merger of County and Supreme Courts in 1985 and the implementation of new rules of civil procedure. He discusses significant cases involving discovery disputes, privilege issues, and procedural innovations, offering insights into the evolving role of Masters in case management. The interview concludes with his gradual transition to part-time work and retirement in 1998, providing a unique perspective on five decades of Canadian legal system evolution from someone who was instrumental in shaping access to justice through legal aid and court administration.
This description was written by AI and may contain some inaccuracies.
References
The following are a selection of topics discussed in this oral history.
- County Courts
- Divisional Court
- Family Court
- Juvenile Court
- Ontario Court of Appeal
- Provincial Courts
- Supreme Court of Canada
- Supreme Court of Ontario
- Osgoode Hall Law School
- Trinity College
- University of Toronto Faculty of Law
- Attorney General of Ontario
- Kingston Penitentiary
- Law Society of Upper Canada
- Ontario Legal Aid Plan
- Court Unification 1985
- Divorce Act 1968
- Kent State Protests
- Kingston Penitentiary Riots 1970
- Ontario Legal Aid Plan Establishment 1967
- Rochdale College Incident
- Elgin County
- Hamilton
- Ontario
- Ottawa
- St. Thomas
- Toronto
- York County
- Byrne & Donkin
- McCarthy Tétrault
- Sanders & Sanders
- White, Bristol, Gordon, Beck & Phipps
- Attom Investments v. Abrade Investments
- Benoit v. Higgins
- Dudulski v. Kingston General Hospital
- General Dynamics v. Veliotis
- Greymac Trust v. Reid
- Morgan Guaranty Trust v. Outerbridge
- Upper Lakes Shipping v. Foster Yeoman
- William Allan v. Robichaud
- Judge
- Masters of the Superior Court
- Andrew Lawson
- Arthur Martin
- Bora Laskin
- Caesar Wright
- Donald Smout
- Everett Bristol
- Foster Rodger
- Grant Gordon
- Jacob Finkelman
- Joe Cornish
- John Falconbridge
- John Magwood
- Peter White
- Reid Donkin
- Roy McMurtry
- W.P.M. Kennedy
- Law Society of Upper Canada
- Legal Aid Committee
- Trinity College Literary Institute
- 1920s
- 1930s
- 1940s
- 1950s
- 1960s
- 1970s
- 1980s
- 1990s
- Access to Justice
- Administrative Law
- Charter Rights
- Children's Rights
- Civil Procedure
- Constitutional Law
- Court Reform
- Criminal Law
- Crown Law
- Discovery
- Family Law
- Legal Aid
- Matrimonial Law
- Privilege
Some of these references were generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies.
Archive Details
File consists of oral history records documenting the life and career of Reid Donkin (b. 1927), a laywer who became Master of the Supreme Court of Ontario in 1980. Interview topics include: University of Toronto; Osgoode Hall Law School; articling; junior, White, Bristol; lawyer in St. Thomas, 1954-1958; legal aid; Master, Supreme Court of Ontario, 1980; select cases. Interview unknown. File includes four audio cassette recordings from a series of two interviews and a transcript with index (136 p.).